Reliability bounds of dependent linear consecutive k-out-of-n:G systems

Abstract

Most of researches in the reliability theory dealt to study the independence between components in a system.  But, in many real systems, dependence between the components is one of the intractable realistic assumptions that need to be carefully considered.  Then, the main purpose of this paper is to provide sharp upper and lower bounds for the reliability of linear consecutive k-out-of-n:G systems consisting of dependent components with identical or arbitrary distribution functions.  Some comparisons are done and many examples are treated to prove the performance of the proposed method.